Back in the days of the forums of TexasMagicZone.com, I would usually write a year-end recap of my Magic events. They never made it to the blog and now, like most of my other writing in that forum, they are lost forever. The closes I've come on this blog was a 2016 Resolutions post that I didn't achieve nor ever revisit.
I don't know if I will do these every year going forward, but this seemed like a good year to do it. For past years, I hope the ongoing PWP project will eventually include some year-by-year analysis, but that is not happening any time soon.
Some of the important non-Magic events of the year can provide context. First, I completed my Masters program and graduated in December of 2021. This meant I was no longer balancing work with school and had more free time. My wife and I moved from Texas to New Jersey. COVID is still out there, but with vaccines, boosters, and milder strains, it's not a hinderance to me personally enjoying things in a manner like the before times.
I'm going to review this year format by format, as I think it paints the best picture of where I'm at currently with Magic.
Old School
This was the year I fully committed to playing Old School. This is because of a few factors. One, moving to New Jersey put me close to many more players and events than Bryan Texas. Two, the competitive play offerings for non Old School no longer had a sizeable advantage over Old School events. The "path to the Pro Tour" was maybe a bit more clear, but the value not the same as previous. The Star City Games circuit also no longer seemed worth travelling very far for. Finally, some fortunate travel plans meant I was going to be in Europe for the WinC0n Old School World Championships and I wanted to make sure I was prepared and doing it right.
The first event I played was an online event put on by the Canadian clubs. I played Atog as part of the non-Canadian Outsiders team. I went 4-1 and helped the team achieve 2nd (or 3rd?) place. I don't know why I didn't write this one up, but I'll put my deck photo here:
Because of fortunate travel plans, I ended up in Italy for the OS Championships. I played all three events and managed to top 8 the Scryings event. Read about it here.
Next up was the Buffalo Stampede at the end of October. I went 5-1 to finish in 3rd place. link
Simon and I teamed up for TwoHeaded Giant at JawnCon and once again finished in 3rd place.
Lastly, the NAOS Cup at Eternal Weekend, where I broke the 3rd place trend with a 2nd place finish.
So over those eight events and six-ish formats, my record was 32-14. I'd call that a solid showing, and I'm looking forward to improving on it if I can. Mano and Mason said I was the clear "Rookie of the Year" on All Tings Considered. I supposed I'm a rookie as I only played some local Texas events and only one a year from 2019-2021. So if that counts, I don't know who my competition would have been. The criteria of "Mano said so" is easier to understand than Major League Baseball eligibility rules. This feels much more like Dennis Quaid than Thomas Ian Nicholas to me though.
Middle School / Premodern
I played three Romancing the Stones Middle School leagues, one Philly Old School Premodern league, and one IRL Premodern event in New Jersey. I managed to finally top 8 the RTS league after two years of close (and not close) calls. I even made back to back top 8s and almost won one!
February - Dance Party - I played Mesa Enchantress. I thought I wrote about this, but it must have been overlooked in the move. I went 4-2 and lost in the top 8 to MasaH on Parallax Tide Replenish. Here's what I played:
August - Summer School - I played Abzan Aluren and finished in 2nd place. Read about it here
October - Fall Semester - 3-3 with Naya Zoo. link
For Premodern, I played NightmareWhale for both the Philly OS League and the local 1K in New Jersey. I went 1-4 at the local event, but I did win the league. I'll be playing something else in the new year.
I've been trying to withhold judgement, but I now feel like I'm close to forming an opinion on which is better. I'm going to probably focus on Premodern to prepare for Lobstercon and save my final verdict until then, but as of now I think Middle School is better in the areas that matter most.
Modern / Pioneer
In March, I did a blind deck swap with Collin Rountree at the Hunter Burton Memorial Open in DFW. He gave me Amulet Titan, which I had never played before. I killed myself with Summoner's Pact on turn two on camera in round one, and the rest of the event was not much better. Also involved in the blind deck swap was Will Lowry. I cost him a match by accidently swapping his lands for his sideboard so he played a game with no mana in his deck. Oh well, those are the perils of blind deck swap I guess.
The only other Modern event I played was the RCQ I won with Merfolk. I still think Merfolk is sweet and hope I can play it in the upcoming HBMO.
Pioneer was limited to two events, the RC in Atlanta and the side event the day after. If winning the RCQ was my Magic highlight of the year (I don't think it is, but it was the only event I won), then the 0-4 at Atlanta was the lowlight. The side event was fun enough to not turn me off of the competitive circuit play for good, but I'm less excited about future RCQs and RCs for now.
Vintage / Legacy
My only Vintage experience was playing a side event at the Hunter Burton event. I think I went 3-2, with Doomsday, missing out on top 8. I love that they offer sanctioned Vintage at this event every year, and will continue to bring my deck when I attend.
The only Legacy I played was the Legacy Championship at Eternal Weekend. Legacy used to be my favorite format, but now that seems like so long ago. It still looks like it could be fun, but there hasn't been any reason to play. Maybe I will check out the local scene.
Standard
L.O.L.
Other Events
Probably my favorite event of the year was the Invasion-Planeshift-Apocalypse draft that Andrew Webb hosted in Austin shortly before I moved away. The event also featured IPA Block Constructed, which was a great time as well. I went 3-0 in Draft (see below) and 2-1 in Constructed (with Naya Panther, an inspiration for the MS Zoo deck I played later in the year).
Loot
I believe these are all the fun cards acquired at these events:
Looking Ahead
2022 was a great year for me at finding new ways to enjoy the game I love. I played the least amount of MTGO of any year in probably decades, and almost zero MTG Arena, and still had a great time.
For 2023, the only event I'm committed to attending is the Scry Hard 2 Scryings event in NJ in January. I am strongly considering both LobsterCon and the HBMO. I would like to plan on attending Eternal Weekend again, if only there was a date to save!
The rest of the schedule is still open. I probably won't be flying to Europe to play Old School, but I haven't ruled it out completely. I may try to play more online webcam Old School events starting with the Winter Derby, but beyond that it will depend on how much I enjoy that one.
Also the Gathering part was great! I met so many new people this year, and they were all great! Some are even greater, but the tier list is a secret.
Until next year,
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
-Ty
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